“Clearly, the number of
channels through which money may be poured into politics… makes political
financing difficult to control as a practical matter… As soon as one channel of
political money is blocked, other channels will be used to take its place.”[1]
Many of the values and
principles that are important to election integrity are at stake in the area of
political finance, particularly electoral campaign financing. The main issues include
development of policy goals, adoption of a legal/regulatory framework, its implementation
and enforcement, and definition of the public’s right to information. Political
finance should be examined from the viewpoint of ethics, fairness, equity, accountability,
transparency and accessibility—the same viewpoints generally followed to
examine election integrity throughout the electoral process. Rigorous standards
are especially necessary given the high visibility of campaign financing and
its impact on public confidence in elections.
This section is divided into
three main areas: Political Finance Policy, Political Finance Regulation and
Political Finance Enforcement.
Political Finance Enforcement
discusses the following issues:
- Clear Laws and Regulations;
- Establishment of
Independent Political Finance Regulator;
- Oversight Powers of
Political Finance Regulator in the areas of Disclosure, Audits and
Investigations;
- Enforcement Powers of
Political Finance Regulator in the areas of Material Incentives, Administrative
and Civil and Criminal Sanctions.
The section is complemented by
other sections, on Access to Information about Political Finance, and Regulating
Party Financing in Parties and Candidates.
[1] Pinto-Duschinsky, Michael, “Financing Politics: A
Global View,” Journal of Democracy, 13(4), 2002, p. 69
